This is the merest shred of a suggestion, based on a very short exchange that's open to various interpretations... But ever since David Slade became attached to direct the new Daredevil, a certain name has regularly cropped up as a focus of internet speculation, and eagle-eyed followers of the twittersphere may just have seen Slade's first confirmation that he'd like Josh Hartnett to be his Matt Murdock.

The suggestion stems from a brief exchange where a follower says she hopes Slade gets to Daredevil soon, and suggests, not entirely tangentially, that she'd love to see Hartnett given a role in the Marvel universe. To which Slade replies, "You and me both."

NOW, seriously: salt, pinches of. That could simply be Slade agreeing that it'd be nice if Josh scored a cool job in something Marvel-y, especially since he was beaten to Thor/The Avengers' Loki by Tom Hiddleston. Slade could even just be agreeing that he hopes he gets to Daredevil soon, and not be talking about Hartnett at all.

Given Slade and Hartnett's previous relationship though - Hartnett starred in Slade's 30 Days Of Night - you could also read that as confirmation that, as many have surmised, Hartnett is indeed on Slade's wishlist to fill the red tights and wield the billy club.

Just a point of interest at this stage then, but certainly one to watch. What we do know is that the most recent draft of the screenplay is by David James Kelly, and that the plan is to adapt Frank Miller's Born Again, which should give us The Kingpin creatively dismantling Murdock's life and supervillain Nuke laying waste to New York's Hell's Kitchen.

The only other name officially linked to the film at this point is producer Peter Chernin (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes), and Regency is the production company. We'll bring you more news as we get it. 

UPDATE: After a few sites picked up this story, Slade tweeted, "Yep, nope, we are not at the casting stage, so neither Josh Hartnett nor anyone else is being discussed for Daredevil. That was just some wishful thinking. I had the pleasure of working with Josh on 30 Days: an excellent, underrated actor and a wonderful human being," He added that the new Daredevil will not be in 3D.